The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1887-12-09

E NNlAHHEa Il rllllh u NIllit flAIELOUl ~ ALf0E
buslRass leads me OF into neighbOTin
Ststes, and not once bat over and uEa
again has my blood boiled as I have noted th
air Of superiority Rd1uteq BY those whom
have met, N comparing their own State g1y
ernmants with Ours, and as / listened q th
synlrathetic tane8 with which they commits
Grated rs n7our STRUGGLES 70 rid ourselves 0
9 corrupt desputismi iar nllero terrible thai
carpsE-baR government itself.
We're not the honor amt the fair fame Q
our beloved Etaie at issu6, wen niirht y
laugh Al fhe charge. Think Of it, my fellow
citl1ansl leu Ml4o boarded Grant AT tn
zenith OF his p0Frert Iuu who faced Calm
guns ana Winchester rifles hacked byzih
moral support of the whole Federal govern
Il nlerta IN-dAy you are accused in the face o
the American people with craven submission
to 500 or 400 tnarfHHft thieves IA
But, say some Of these
s1s4nDEREhs or THE RAIR NAME on TIE STATE,
a great many people wonst vote; the bssi
people refuse to give the necessary time eTf
this argument strikssnt the very root Of 0uI
rgplblican Institutions ] want no Return.
lng Hoard vetes ever again cast 10 this State.
4 We protested for ygzrH against the counting
I 81 votes which had not gone into the ballot
4 box, and am consistent i protest against
Z Il yet. j 90 further, ] Say that no man,
I lluWeFerl rich he may be, however good he
may be, however pure and noble he mas he.
has any right to expect his Iniiuene8 to be felt
/ or considered il q republic If he is too good,
too busy or too lazy to vote. ] believe TINT
PEELED 20 vote, under tbs sGyerest OF penalties,
at every election, but until such law Is
passed i bel55Ee in ignoring every vote not
cast. Whenever believe differently ] shall
also believe that a repuhlic is a farce and a
failuFe, and that the day for q Cesar or
Cromwell has arrived
And now, fellow citizens, who iE this man,
Samuel %. MckneFy, whom we present for
your su3lraGes for tae highest Office in your
gift? ] have been told that he served in an
humble rank - a soldier Of that same cause
fAElHF a
opponent WGs 30 terribly manned: that he
ever talied many OF the duties OF O soldier
has, 4 believe, never been claimed first
met him at e time and nnder circumstances
which ] shall never forget A committee Of
the United States Senate aYSs sitting IN New
Orleans during the Christmas holidaPB of
1870, examining into the conduct Of the
Nichols had been elected Governor Of Lou
lsianR. WitnsFEas had been summoned from
all the buLldozing Parishes, from Ouaehita
and from AorellOuESs, iron the two teiiei-
anag, and from many other parts OF the
State. The State Central Committee Of the
Democratic party requested me, as we'll as
many OF the younger members of the liar, 10
assist in conducting that investigation on
behalf VI the Democratic party, 10 me and
to two others WIS assigned the cAso Of
0uRchita and AinrehGase- 1t Bas during
this nyesriEaton and under circumstances
tending to form y very rapid intimacy that i
first met the modest and retiring gentleman
who led the movement whereby those two
parishes had been
HEsCUED FROM OPPRESSION.
The details Of the campaign have mostly
faded from my Etind. / merely recall its
general teHtnreB-tRe months of anxiety,
durlug which the white people IN those par
lshes were III hourly tear of that most terri
bic Of ealanitss--a seryiie insnrreCtioR; the
GGnsuInmate tsct and prudence aud firmneHs
by which he Led the people to victory. After
those sad closing days Of lSz6, l saw eHd
beard but little Of Gov. mcEnery until he
was nominated by the convention aB Lieu
tenant Governor in 1879. He was given the
second place on the ticket Is the Representa-
tive OF, tat section OF the party which had
been defeated III the gubernatorial contest
The days had not yet arrived in Louisiana
when factions were 30 bitter that one body OF
Democrats TecQilcd from contact with an
other as from q leper. When Gov. bcEngFy
WAS soon after called to the Ruberllu lfITiHI
chair by the death Of Gov. Wilt he eShib-
tied a magnAnimlty EEid sense Of honor but
rarely met IN public life and declined 70 re-
woke any Of thg appointments made by his
predecessor, eUCept where good cause was
shown to induce him 10 take such action.
Tins course led to the eatrRngement Of those
who had beeM has political friends, but from
that date to this be has administered the
government with an energy and zeal
which must, engraye, hIs name deep upon
tbs chronicles, Of the State. he has
been identified with every move for her
progress and improvement. He has never |
hesitated 10 act and to act boldly whenever !
occasion required. In 1888 he atgeseh his |
DOhtIh 10 Tue UTMOST limits 10 FGbecb o a. /
alluyial lands from overflow. lie Va even |
for an arbitrary eXerllse of p,WeF /.
by A certain section OF the parby--a cenEure |
not repeated in 1887, becaHRe his conduct |
was atitieI and approved by the Democratic |
party and the people in 1854. He did not |
hesltute one moment to order strong bOdieB |
OF militia to the seat Of the late strikes in the
sugar districts OF this State, al
THE VERY First SION OF TROUBLE. !
He has been oeusured for this, accused Of
OyerERtinE the danger, and seeking Theatrical
effect All my friends! that Is fine talk for
editors and poilt!Glans removed to q safe dis
tanee from the trouble; but ask the reform
planters of St. Mary, LafouTehe and IerTe-
bonnie, the lives Of whose wives and chi
dren were at stake, whether this action Was
too prompt
There is and ever has bsena section of the
Democratic party unwilling TO believe that
there was any good in him In 1859 he was |
accused OF exceeding hlR powers in the mat |
ter o. building leTUeB, and he was held re-
State lands entered into by his predecessor,
and over which he had no more control than |
you or l. The people answered these charges
by triumphant indication at the polls in |
1854, and they have not been repeated in |
1887. But it has been interesting 10 note |
the lines Of attack pursued during the pres
be was guilty Of what was denominated
persona hsIn. ~ that IL 10 say that he had |
appointed none but his friends to office and !
that those friends were corrupt and inennl-
the opposition were met upon this ground
and When particulars were asked for ths
observation-disclosures in each parish found
out that the evil com planned Of either did not
exist in their own parish, bnt IN some other
one, or else that the Objectionable nOmina-
tons had been approved and recommended
by the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES in the par
ash; and finally, after the whole list had been
gone over, there was at least one result Of
that eXaninsii0n Of which all LOuisianians
may well be proud, and that was the dis
VAnN ferH 4
parisf: governments were in.H higher state III
efficiency today than they have ever been
sinee the W4Ts BDd that in the few cases
where eLeepuohb Rave been noted, the par
usans OF the reform clement have had "A
great share IN the parish administration al
the administration leaders. When driven
from their attack, upon the parish govern.
ments, they found fault with the Governor
for the dsfalushen Of Secretary OF Staig
Strong, forgetting that lac had been eleetad
~ the people, ami not appointed by tie
Inaliss, g the fact that tTial aud conviction
had followed the defalGatiQn.
NeAt came an attaek on certain alleged de-
ig,qlting shsriils, but this was abandoned
when some showed settlements, aud Others
Ike your own sheriff i believe, gave rather
iait denlals' and he1s and last let us hope,
THE THIRD TERM BUdABoo.
Upon this subject the energetic younp
COngEsssnlal FROM the Shreveport distfiet
compiled much learning, bnt the resort 10
STATISTICS was unfortunate. Senator IA Their
!i N J, n " SOTO, went 70 the books and showed
that one Governor ID one qf the States served
eleven ierms and others had served three,
TOUR and i've times. ] confess that have
not pursued the Rtatisties with great aeon
FaeYi beeaqee tho whole third term argument
pas seemed 70 me 20 utterly puer5le aud faI- |
laelous, The objections 10 the ne-eieeiias On |
z 4 reSident 20 q third terra are Well grORnd- |
81. Inc FtesldeRt Of THIS great country
might gy perpetuatipg his power, finally be-
como a dletator OF an emperor; but sho fears l
i9r one n9fnent that q Governor can ever
crush the Liberties OF che peopleY Az wei I
might you suppose that Justice Of Ille peaee /
could perpetuate his power without the eoIi- \
sent nf the people as 10 suppose that q Gov |.
arM0r could do 80.
When finally driven from ali specific At
teekH upon the administration By sitoeessffil
FelntaAion, the Reform party has now talTeu |.
rflnge ~ the Aatetyof generalization, and
We hear II today from an fle stliInfl N, ffs